The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

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Monday, July 28, 2014

Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
This morning the Holy Father returned to Caserta, following his
pastoral visit on Saturday, 26 July, to meet privately with the
evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino, a friend from his time as
archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The Pontiff arrived in Caserta by
helicopter at 10.15 a.m. and, following a private and reserved
meeting at pastor Traettino's house, he met the community of the
Pentecostal evangelical Church at the premises, currently under
construction, of the Pentecostal Church of the Reconciliation. The
Pope dined with the community and is scheduled to return to the
Vatican later this afternoon.

Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
The Pope has sent a telegram of condolences to Archbishop Cesare
Nosiglia of Turin for the death in Rome yesterday of Cardinal
Francesco Marchisano, archpriest emeritus of St. Peter's Basilica, at
the age of 85.

“Having heard of the death of
Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, an illustrious son of this land”,
writes the Pope, “I wish to express my deepest condolences to your
excellency, to the presbytery and the friends of the lamented
Cardinal. I think with affection of this dear pastor who for many
years diligently collaborated with the Apostolic See, especially in
the Congregation for Catholic Education, as archpriest of the Vatican
Basilica, and finally as president of the Labour Office of the
Apostolic See. He leaves us the witness of a life spent in the
generous fulfilment of his vocation, as a priest and a bishop
attentive to the needs of the faithful and sensitive to the worlds of
art and culture. I raise prayers for the eternal repose of his soul,
that the Lord may receive him in joy and eternal peace, and I offer
to those who mourn his passing the comfort of my apostolic blessing”.

The funeral, presided by Cardinal
Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, will be held on
Wednesday, 30 July at 8 a.m. at the altar of the Cathedra of St.
Peter's Basilica. At the end of the ceremony, the Holy Father will
administer the rites of “Ultima Commendatio” and of “Valedictio”.

Vatican City, 27 July 2014 (VIS) – As
on every Sunday, Pope Francis appeared at the window of his study to
pray the Angelus with the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.
The Pontiff, as in the Mass celebrated the day before in Caserta,
spoke about the two parables about the kingdom of Heaven: the jewel
merchant who finds a pearl of infinite value and sells everything he
owns to buy it, and the farmer who chances upon hidden treasure and
sells all his land to buy the field where it lies. Neither the
merchant nor the farmer have any doubt about their actions as they
are aware of the incomparable value of what they have found.

“It is the same with the kingdom of
God”, explained the bishop of Rome. “He who finds it has no
doubt, he knows that he has found what he sought and awaited, and
which answers his most authentic aspirations. It is truly like this:
those who know Jesus, who encounter Him personally, are fascinated,
attracted by such goodness, such truth, such beauty, and all this in
great humility and simplicity. Seeking and finding Jesus: this is the
greatest treasure of all!”.

“How many people, how many saints,
reading the Gospel with an open heart, have been so struck by Jesus
that they have converted to Him. Let us think of St. Francis of
Assisi; he was already a Christian, but lukewarm, a “rose-water”
Christian. When he read the Gospel, in a decisive moment during his
youth, he encountered Jesus and discovered the Kingdom of God, and
from then on all his dreams of earthly glory vanished. The Gospel
lets you know the true Jesus, it lets you know the living Jesus; it
speaks to your heart and changes your life. And from then on, he left
everything. You can effectively change the type of life you lead, or
continue to do what you did before, but you are different, you are
born again: you have found that which gives meaning, flavour and
light to everything, even to hardship, suffering and death”.

The Pope went on to repeat the
importance of reading a passage from the Gospel every day; of keeping
it in our pockets, our bags, always at hand, as “everything makes
sense when you find this treasure that Jesus called 'the Kingdom of
God': that is, God Who reigns in your life, in our lives. God is
love, peace and joy in every man and in all men. … Reading the
Gospel means finding Jesus and receiving this Christian joy, which is
a gift from the Holy Spirit”.

“The joy of encountering the treasure
of the Kingdom of God becomes clear, it can be seen”, concluded the
Pontiff. “The Christian cannot conceal his faith, as it shines
through in every word and every gesture, even the simplest everyday
ones. The love that God has given us through Jesus shines through.
Let us pray, by the intercession of the Virgin Mary, that His Kingdom
of love, justice and peace may come to us and to all the world”.

Vatican City, 27 July 2014 (VIS) –
After today's Angelus prayer, the Holy Father, remarking that
tomorrow marks the centenary of the beginning of the First World War,
launched a new appeal for peace in the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine,
and called for a cessation of hostilities.

“Tomorrow is the one hundredth
anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, which claimed
millions of lives and caused immense destruction. This conflict,
defined by Pope Benedict XV as a 'senseless slaughter', persisted for
four long years and led to a more fragile peace. Tomorrow will be a
day of mourning in remembrance of this tragedy. While we remember
this tragic event, I hope that we will not repeat the errors of the
past, but will instead pay heed to the lessons of history, ensuring
that the reason of peace always prevails by means of patient and
courageous dialogue”.

“Today, my thoughts extend to three
areas of crisis, in particular: the Middle East, Iraq and Ukraine. I
ask you to continue to join with me in prayer that the Lord may grant
the populations and authorities of these areas the wisdom and
strength necessary to proceed with determination along the path of
peace, facing every diatribe with the tenacity of dialogue and
negotiation, and the strength of reconciliation. May the common good
and respect for every person be at the centre of every decision,
rather than particular interests. Let us remember that all is lost
with war, but nothing is lost with peace”.

“Brothers and sisters: no more war!
No more war! I think especially of the children, who are deprived of
the hope of a worthwhile life, of a future: children killed, children
injured, children mutilated, children orphaned, children who have as
toys the remnants of war, children who do not know how to smile.
Stop, please! I ask you with all my heart. The time has come to stop.
Stop, please!”

Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
The Pope left the Vatican by helicopter at 3 p.m., arriving at the
heliport of the NCO (Non-Commissioned Officers) School of the Air
Force of the Royal Palace of Caserta, where he was greeted by Bishop
Giovanni D'Alise of Caserta and other local authorities. He then
transferred by car to the Palatine Chapel where he was awaited by the
diocesan priests. He set aside his prepared discourse and began a
very intimate conversation with the priests, answering the four
questions they presented to him.

The Holy Father spoke about the example
of unity that bishops must give, that Jesus asked of His Father for
the Church. “This cannot be done speaking badly about each other.
The unity of bishops is important to the unity of the Church”, he
said, adding that the devil revels in and profits from internal
conflict. “The bishops must be in agreement in unity, but not in
uniformity. Each one has his charism, each one has his way of
thinking and his point of view; this is at times the result of
mistakes, but it is often the result of the Spirit … a unity in
diversity, in which no-one loses his own personality”.

The Pope was then asked for suggestions
for a pastoral able to relaunch the primacy of the Gospel without
mortifying popular piety. He answered that “true popular piety was
born of that Sensus Fidei described in the Encyclical Lumen Gentium
and which is guided by devotion to the Saints, to the Virgin, and
also by folkloric expressions, in the positive sense of the word”.
He added, “the agnosticism that has entered into the Church in
groups of intimist piety” are not good, but are instead a form of
heresy. … Popular piety is inculturated, it cannot be produced in a
laboratory, aseptic … it is always born of life”.

Another question focused on the
identity of the priest in the third millennium. “How can we
overcome the existential crisis born of the linguistic, semantic and
cultural revolution in evangelical witness?”. “With creativity”,
replied the Pope. “It is the commandment that God gave to Adam and
Jesus to his disciples. And creativity is found in prayer. A bishop
who does not pray, a priest who does not pray, has closed the door to
creativity”. The fourth question related to the foundations of
spirituality for a priest. Francis described the priest's dual
capacity for contemplation: towards God and towards man. “He is a
man who looks, who fills his eyes and heart with contemplation: with
the Gospel before God, and with human problems when among men. The
priest must be contemplative in this way. But this must not be
confused with monastic life, which is something else”.

The Pope emphasised that diocesan life
must be at the centre of the spirituality of the diocesan priest.
“Maintaining a relationship with the bishop and with the rest of
the priests … simple, but at the same time not easy. The greatest
enemy of these relationships is gossip. The devil knows that this
seed bears fruit, and he sows it well ... to impede that evangelical,
spiritual and fruitful relationship between the bishop and the
presbytery”. He remarked that it was better to say things clearly
and openly, rather than give satisfaction to the devil who in this
way “attacks the centre of the spirituality of the diocesan
clergy”. The Holy Father concluded with some comments on the
bitterness of some priests and the image of an angry Church. “One
may anger at times; it is healthy to be angry at times. But the state
of rage is not God's, and leads only to sadness and disunity”.

Vatican City, 26 July 2014 (VIS) –
More than two hundred thousand people attended the Mass celebrated by
the Holy Father in the square in front of the Royal Palace of Caserta
at 6 p.m. yesterday.

The Pope spoke in his homily about the
“kingdom of Heaven”, based on the parables of the hidden treasure
and the pearl. In the first, the “kingdom” is similar the
treasure hidden in a field, that the farmer finds and hides again,
full of joy, then sells everything he has to buy the field. In the
second, a merchant who seeks fine pearls encounters one of great
value and sells everything he owns in order to buy it.

The farmer and the merchant, explains
the Pope, have the same sentiment in common: the surprise and joy of
the fulfilment of their desires and, through these two parables,
“with simple words that everyone can understand”, Jesus explains
what the kingdom of heaven is, how it is found and what one can do to
obtain it.

Jesus does not concern Himself with
describing the “kingdom”, although He has announced it since the
beginning of His Gospel; however, He shows it indirectly, through
reflection. “He prefers to let it be understood through parables
and similarities, especially by revealing its effects: the kingdom of
Heaven is able to change the world, like the leaven concealed in the
dough”. Both parables help us understand that the kingdom of God is
present in the person of Jesus Himself. He is the hidden treasure and
the valuable pearl. The joy of the farmer and the merchant are
comprehensible – they have found what they sought! It is the joy of
each one of us when we discover the closeness and the presence of
Jesus in our life. His is a presence that transforms our existence
and opens us to the needs of our brethren; a presence that invites us
to welcome every other presence, even that of the foreigner or the
immigrant”.

To encounter the kingdom of God, each
one of us takes his or her own path. For some, the encounter with
Jesus is awaited, hoped for and long sought, as we see in the parable
of the merchant who travels the world seeking something of value. For
others it happens unexpectedly, almost by chance, as in the parable
of the farmer. This reminds us that God lets us meet Him anyway, as
it is He Who is the first to wish to meet us. ... He came in order to
be 'God with us'. … It is He Who seeks us out, it is He Who lets
Himself be found even by those who are not looking for Him, at times
in unusual places and at unexpected moments. When we find Jesus we
are fascinated, we are won over, and it is a joy to leave behind our
usual way of life, often arid and apathetic, to embrace the Gospel,
and to allow ourselves to be guided by the new logic of love”.

Jesus is very clear that when He refers
to the possession of the “kingdom”, enthusiasm and the joy of
discovery are not enough. “It is necessary to place the precious
pearl of the kingdom before all other earthly goods; it is necessary
to put God in first place in our life. According primacy to God means
having the courage to say no to evil, to violence, to oppression; to
live a life of service to others and in favour of legality and the
common good. … One must be a friend of God, love one's brothers,
and be committed to the protection of their lives and health, also
respecting the environment and nature”. Francis emphasised, “This
is particularly important in this beautiful land, which needs to be
protected and preserved; it takes courage to say no to every form of
corruption and illegality – and we all know the name of these forms
of corruption and illegality. It requires that everyone is a servant
to the truth and assumes in every situation an evangelical lifestyle,
which is manifested in the gift of the self and care for the poor and
excluded”.

The Pope went on to speak about the
festivity of St. Ann, the patron saint of Caserta, which brought
together in the square several components of the diocesan community,
the bishop, the civil authorities and the representatives of various
social sectors. “I would like to encourage al of you to experience
the festivity of your patron saint free of preconceived ideas, as a
pure expression of the faith of a people who recognise themselves as
the family of God and strengthen the bonds of fraternity and
solidarity. St. Ann perhaps heard her daughter pronounce the words of
the Magnificat: 'He has brought down rulers from their thrones, but
has lifted up the humble; He has filled the hungry with good things'.
May she help you to find the only treasure, Jesus, and teach you to
discover the criteria of God's action: He turns worldly judgements on
their head, coming to the aid of the poor and the least among us, and
brings abundance to the humble, who entrust their existence to Him.
Have hope, hope does not disappoint. And I like to repeat to you: do
not let yourselves be robbed of hope!”

Following the Mass and before the final
blessing, Francis gave thanks to all those present for their warm
welcome, and to Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, archbishop of Naples,
adding, “I have heard that the Neapolitans are a little jealous of
this visit, but I wish to assure them them that this year I will
certainly visit them too”.

After the Eucharistic celebration, the
Pope transferred to the military airport and left for Rome by
helicopter.

Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
The family of Fr. Paolo Dell'Oglio, the Italian Jesuit priest of whom
there has been no news for a year following his disappearance in the
Syrian city of Raqqa, today issued the following communique:

“One year has already passed since we
last knew of our son and brother Paolo, priest, Jesuit, Italian, who
disappeared in Syria on July 29th 2013.

This has also been a long time, too
long, for a land ravaged by war and infinite suffering like Syria.

We ask those responsible for the
disappearance of a good man, a man of faith, a man of peace, to have
the dignity to let us know of his fate.

We would like to once again hold him in
our arms, however we are also prepared to mourn him.

Tomorrow, 29th of July, one year after
his disappearance, many of us will be praying for him and standing by
him, as we will be doing for those who have been kidnapped, unjustly
detained and for the many who are suffering because of this war.”

Vatican City, 28 July 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday, Sunday, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, prefect of the
Congregation for the Oriental Churches, presided at the Divine
Liturgy in the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle of the Chaldeans in
San Diego, U.S.A. He prayed for the Christians persecuted in Iraq,
the motherland of the Chaldean Church, and also included in his
prayer those in Syria, Palestine and Egypt, as well as those who
belong to the Greek-Catholic community in Ukraine, who are currently
experiencing difficult situations.

The bishop of the eparchy, Sarhad
Yawsip Hermiz Jammo, thanked the cardinal for the consolation that
his visit and his prayers, as the representative of Pope Francis,
offered to al the Christians of the East, and added that, in
communion with Peter's Successor, they would persist in the faith of
Abraham and, like the patriarch, they would prepare to leave for the
land God will show to them, learning to read history in a higher
dimension.

In his homily, Cardinal Sandri thanked
those present and those Christians who suffer for their faith in the
Gospel in situations of conflict, and assured them of Pope Francis'
prayers and blessing and the closeness of all the Church. He
expressed his hope for peace and justice for all those who have been
afflicted by incredible and senseless violence.

The prefect of the Congregation for the
Oriental Churches, in his visit to California, met with the Maronite
and Syro-Malabar communities of Los Angeles and San Diego. During the
coming days he will visit the Armenians and greet the priests of the
Syrian, Coptic, Greek-Melkite and Romanian Greek-Catholic Churches
who exercise their pastoral ministry in this region of the United
States. The already populous Eastern is expected to increase
significantly, especially from Iraq, due to the current conflict. He
underlined that immigration is a pastoral challenge of historical
proportions, and requires great efforts on the part of the Latin
Church in support of the Oriental Churches.

Vatican City, 26 July 2014 (VIS) –
The director of the Holy See Press Office has stated, with regard to
Pope Francis' possible attendance at the World Meeting of Families in
Philadelphia, U.S.A. in September 2015, that the Holy Father has
received several invitations to travel to America and, as usual,
considers them carefully. “The Pope has made it known that he is
willing to participate in the meeting of families, but at the present
moment he has not initiated any concrete plan or programme for travel
to the United States or Mexico”. He added, “It should be taken
into account, however, that the Philadelphia meeting will be held in
over a year's time”.

- appointed Cardinal Justin Francis
Rigali, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia, U.S.A., as his special
envoy to the solemn Eucharistic celebration in the new Cathedral of
St. Louis, U.S.A., to be held on 24 August, commemorating the 250th
anniversary of the founding of the city.

- appointed Cardinal Angelo Scola,
archbishop of Milan, Italy, as his special envoy to the celebration
of the 850th anniversary of the translation of the relics of the Magi
to Cologne, Germany, to be held on 28 September.